Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-06-28
WOUNDED IN BATTLE.
SEVERAL PATHETIC STORIES OF
FIELDS OF CARNAGE.
R-colIc,tinn~ nf AN Ohi-.r in the War of
the E.brIIi"n--A Nervous Wounded

RrfOllrstton~ of AN oUir"f III me WAT I"
the E.brIIi"n--A N.rvou. Wounded
Man-Th- Ambulance. Corp>-Dr.-rted
Comrades.
The military discipline as To the wounded
was striCt-in theory. Theoretically help
less wounded man was to lie where lie had
fallen until the stgrt"her bearers from the
ambulance train picked him up and carried
him oT; II" sound man was 10 leave his line
during an engagement 10 succor the hurt.
Among the bg,t regiments this discipline was
nearly always enforced, far a. practicable.
But among the poorer regiments and the
newer regiments tine contrary was apt to he
the case An extraordinary amount Il kindly
feeling was often manifested among these
regiments for their wounded. On one orCa-
sion. in 1861, tn writer saw four men from
IA new regiment. then in the first line Of bat
tie. totterng back under the burden Of a
strapping fellow. who. on being examined
by provost guard, proved To have but
painful hUllcl scratch IA the side and whom
these four we're hastily rempving-aiong
with thenl~rlvr>-frum the chancs uf further
danger.
There were times hnsreyer, when the un-
harmed might without detrinent To the ser
vice assist their wounded o. some place of
shelter. Late in the afternoon, during the
battle of Antietam. the writer's brigade,
after having done its share of the bloody
work at the sunkru lane Of R0;llet's farm,
was in the second line Of battle and moc
cupiei \ comrade was wounded in the leg.
and the writer, with three others. picked him
up and carried him off toward large barn
Lot
way the little party. In spite OF the thick
white smoke that uverhuug every thing were
a mark for a Confederate battery at the
Dunkari meeting house, ani several she'll,
were consequently exploded about their ears
fragment Of a shell crushed both legs Of
one of our party. The poor leg,S> man was
then picket uP hv To-. other remaining two
who went on, while the writer struggled on
then a. best hc could by himself With the
man first wounded
WOUNDED AND NERVOUS.
The weather wa> warm Sept ~ and the
wounded man-One Of who's. arm. WIS
around the writers ueck-was heavy. Half
way tn the barn the writer, nearly exhau>r.d
insisted "u topping to r,~r. But the bullets
were wLizZnug IN all directions through the
air H. husilY as bees ia d white clover match
and the wounded man was therefore very
nervous. IL is.Sl. hy th. way, TO Le a say-
ing in the army that when Il man i wounded
b.. j. whipped" Perhaps the nerves Of some
men arc un-trTng by sudden pam. At ali
events, tn" man IN question trembled like a
white poplar leaf in the breeze at every 'zp"
nt a bullet ami H'gge,i to b- helped on with
out any delay To the writers expoStulatiou
that Ec must have time. to recover his breath
the wodnded mans rpjoiulcr wn~: I'm a
married man; YOU Grs not. OF course il
makes no difference whether YOU are killed
or not, You have no wife Ihi- WAS said IN
all seriousness. for the man was utterly in
capable Of humorous sentiment
The ambulance train itself was an iIupor,-
ant adjunct 10 the army. Early ia the war
two ambulance wagons accompanied each
regiment, the pattern beng long. two
wheeled cart drawn bv one horse. tue interior,
atioriing b-i space FOR tv" reclining persons.
and a keg, generally supposed by The soldiers
10 he full Of brandy. hung rather ornament
ally beneath the step al the rear The cover
was black and the entire appearance of rb..
vehicle was sal and umderrakrr-ike. The
moral effect nn >ome OF the raw soldiers OF
the>e funereal hooking machines following
The pattern was borrowed from SOME Euro
pean service. But i; soon gave way 10 the
TWO horse four wheeled spring wagon. which
has ever since i-en the accepted type IN this
country and is now familiar in all our k.r.,.
cities These wagons were organized into 4
train, to each wagon, besides its driver, two
men being assigned As stretcher bearers in
action ami hospital nurses at other times
THE AMBULANCE CoRrS
This ambulance corps was distinguished by
wide green band encirclng the sleeve. al
though the little flags which lluttered from
the tops Of the ambulance wagons ami the
larger ones which were displayed at the field
hospitals Were Of deep orange On the
march the ambulance wagon was a sort Of
omnibus 10 carry the lame and the halt who
bore passes from the surgeons of their regi-
ments emitting them. ON account of sore feet
or sickness, TO a ride if possible. But at the
first sign of n battle these men were turned
out and sent 10 JOIN their regiments. and the
lengthwiSe seats gave place to mattresses
spread for the reception If the wounded
The suffering of such OF the helpless wounded
as, for one reason or another. were left where
they had fallen, must have been great I'm
nervet they were by their weakness and
the shock of their pain. they had stlll TO en-
dure additional sIock> from the anticipation
of new injuries for. during the battle, troops
Were constantly moving about, horses gallop
ing in ali directions sometimes battery Of
artillery would come numbering across the
ground. while. withour imter1niSsion, ever,
form of projectile, great or small, was fiying
uucomfortahly near or was striking the earth
- Il. Il, Ffs.